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I adore cooking with my slow cooker, but I often don’t think of using it in the summer, for whatever reason. Crock pot meals are comfort food for me…and comfort food makes me think of cold weather.
This week, though, I cooked two meals in the crock pot - one old recipe and one new recipe. The new recipe - slow cooked BBQ chicken - was such a hit that I watched my boys devour the entire pan before my eyes. I’m talking plates piled high with cleaned-off bones.
I was impressed.
I’ve made easy 2-ingredient BBQ chicken in the crock pot plenty of times (you know the recipe - dump chicken in the crock pot and cover with BBQ sauce). It’s good and it’s certainly easy, but it doesn’t wow me.
As much as I love chicken in the crock pot, I do have one complaint…the chicken becomes so tender that it falls off the bone and becomes a mess. But when I cook drumsticks and thighs on the grill or in the oven, I often find that the flavors don’t get on the part of the chicken that I’m actually eating (I’m not a skin-eater, so I like my chicken - not the skin - to be infused with flavors).
This recipe seemed to take care of both issues. You start out with a full-flavor dry rub of spices and seasonings and top with a small amount of BBQ sauce over the top. Instead of swimming in liquids that you add at the beginning, this chicken starts out relatively “dry” and is cooked in its own juices.
I know…I’m probably being too picky. But I’m telling you. I’m VERY enthusiastic about this chicken. It was the best bone-in chicken I’ve cooked inside my house.
The cast iron searing at the end was the clincher for me. It took a basic crock pot chicken to a whole new level of slow-cooker awesomeness. Yes, it means that you have another dish to clean (ask my husband…I am not a fan of hand-washing the crock pot!), but the added depth of flavor is totally worth the extra time and effort.
Ready for this recipe?
The Best BBQ Chicken in the Crock Pot
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon minced onion
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 4-5 lbs chicken drumsticks and thighs (with bones and skin)
- 16-18 ounce bottle barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Mix all spices in a gallon-sized ziploc bag. Toss chicken in bag, a few pieces at a time, so that each piece is coated in the seasoning mix. Place chicken in the crock pot. Pour about half of the bottle of BBQ sauce over the chicken and toss to coat.
- Cover and cook chicken on low for 5-6 hours.
- When chicken is cooked through, heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat (if you don't have cast iron, it's fine to use a regular skillet, but you may want to spray with a nonstick spray first). When skillet is hot, remove chicken from slow cooker using tongs and place in skillet. Brush top of each piece with BBQ sauce. Turn chicken and brush other side with BBQ sauce. Flip again to "sear" BBQ sauce on chicken - just 1-2 minutes per side is plenty to sear those flavors in.
- Remove chicken from skillet and serve with your favorite side dishes.
Note: I reserved and strained the juices from the crock pot to use as a sauce to pour over the chicken and the rice that we served along side.
This slow cooker BBQ chicken recipe was adapted from Recipes That Crock. She doesn’t use a cast iron skillet for the last step, but I’m currently obsessed with cast iron so I had to modify things a little. I am so glad I found it, because it really IS the best BBQ chicken in the crock pot. And the cast iron pot. Ever.
© 2015, Lolli. All rights reserved.
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I am going to make your awesome bbq chicken recipe and Slow cooking meat makes it taste so tender and delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
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Mmmm our grill kicked the bucket so this sounds like a good way of getting some BBQ in before the summer escapes!!
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This looks like a keeper! I will have to try this.
Thanks for sharing at The Living With Style Linky Party. I hope you link up again this week. Doors open Wednesday at 5:30 AM MST.
Hugs,
Lory
http://www.therobinsnestdesigns.com
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Lory from The Robin's Nest Designs Reply:
August 16th, 2015 at 3:48 pm
oops, typed that wrong. It’s 5:30 Eastern Time.
Lory from The Robin’s Nest Designs´s last blog post ..Printable Autumn Word Art
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Your BBQ chicken looks super yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe with us this week on the Monday Funday Party!
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This recipe looks wonderful! I love to find great recipes for chicken done in the crock pot. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
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Aah! This looks so yummy! I am a fan of BBQ sauce ever since. I know this tastes really good. Oh! Now, I’m hungry. =D
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This looks so good! I love the idea of combining the slow cooker and skillet to cook the chicken!
Scarlet´s last blog post ..Easy and Cute DIY Locker Pocket
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